Secret Admirer
by benjji2795
Summary: Valentine's Day is coming up and Jude doesn't have a date. But suddenly, someone begins leaving notes in Jude's locker, leaving a puzzle for Jude to figure out, and as it turns out, Jude doesn't spend Valentine's Day alone.


It was February 10th. The Monday before Valentine's Day. Another Valentine's Day, Jude lamented, that he would spend alone. In fact it was almost a guarantee. With all of his siblings out of the house, only he moms would be there, and they had already said they would be having a date night on Valentine's. So it'll be a night of ice cream and crying over cheesy romance movies, Jude thought bitterly. It was as if the red and pink hearts plastered everywhere and kissing couples were taunting him. Jude arrived at his locker, yanking it open, not even bothering with the combination. A scrap of paper fell out, not an unusual occurrence since his locker was usually a mess. What caught his attention about this piece of paper was the red heart sticker next to the neat, script "Jude" written at the top.

You're a cutie

S.A.

Jude shoved the note into his pocket, figuring that it was just some kid playing a joke on him.

"Hey Jude!" Connor chirped cheerfully, walking over to where Jude was standing.

"Oh, uh hey Connor." Jude replied distractedly.

"Something on your mind Jude?"

"I—uh, it's nothing." Jude answered hurriedly.

"It doesn't sound like nothing." Connor prodded.

"It's nothing Connor! Just leave it alone." Jude snapped.

"Woah, okay Jude! No need to bite my head off." Connor said, throwing his hands up as if in self-defense. Jude sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry Connor, it's just—Valentine's Day is coming up and I was seeing all the stuff about it and thinking that I won't have a date and I got upset. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Jude apologized, feeling bad for directing his outburst at Connor. Connor tilted his head, curiosity written on his face and mischief playing in his eyes, though Jude didn't really notice his eyes.

"What makes you say you won't have a date, Jude? You're a cute guy, I'm sure there are guys lining up to go out with you. You just don't notice them."

"Hahahaha, you're funny Connor! The line is non-existent. Trust me, I've looked." Jude said, almost doubled over with laughter.

"Seriously, not one guy has said something to you? Given you a wink? Left you a note?" Connor pressed.

"Well I did find this in my locker just before you walked up." Jude answered, pulling the crumpled up note from his pocket. "I just think it's someone playing a prank on me." Connor grabbed the note, examining it closely.

"Nah, whoever it was put way too much effort into this little note for it to be a prank." He said, tossing the note back to Jude. "So, you've got a secret admirer! Who do you think it is?" Connor asked eagerly. Jude just shrugged. He had no idea.

"He has no idea it's me!" Connor said, running up to Taylor excitedly.

"See, I told you he would never guess. You've been friends for so long he would never suspect you. So what are you going to write on the next note?" Taylor asked.

"I was thinking I might give him a hint as to who I might be." Connor responded.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Just telling him that his 'secret admirer' has brown eyes and plays baseball." Taylor looked at him questioningly.

"You think you can play that off without making him suspicious?"

"You underestimate my acting skills, Taylor."

"Oh, I forgot. You're an expert at acting like you don't have feelings for Jude. In fact, you're both experts at acting like you don't have feelings for each other. My mistake." Taylor replied sarcastically. Connor just glared at her. "I'm just saying you've been friends since 7th grade and you just now thought to ask him out."

"You're right." he sighed.

"Course I am. Now get going, Jude's coming over here."

"Hey Taylor. What do you make of this?" Jude asked, handing her the note.

"Looks like you got a secret admirer, Jude." Taylor answered.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious. I mean who do you think it might be?" Jude clarified, obviously annoyed. Taylor just shrugged. Jude groaned, snatching the note back from her and storming off.

The next day, Jude came in, already anxious to get to his locker to see if there was another note. Connor spotted him before he reached his locker, jogging over to walk with him.

"So do you think there's another note from your S.A.?"

"Maybe. I'm hoping that he gives me clue to his identity or something. But tell me Connor, why are you so interested in this secret admirer anyway?" Jude replied.

"Well for starters Jude, you haven't been on a single date since I met you in seventh grade, and before you say anything our group dates with Daria and Taylor don't count. And besides, you've seemed pretty lonely lately. A boyfriend would be good for you."

"I am not going to date just to date, Connor!" Jude protested, pulling his locker open and carefully examining for another note, and finding it neatly placed on top of his textbooks. He grabbed it, carefully unfolding it.

Here's a hint: I have brown eyes and I play baseball.

S.A.

"What does it say?" Connor inquired.

"See for yourself." Jude said, handing the note to Connor. "So who you think it could be? It's gotta be someone you know since they play baseball."

"Not necessarily. There's freshman, JV and varsity baseball and I only know the guys on varsity. No one's ever expressed any interest in you. I mean they're all annoyingly straight." Connor answered, chuckling.

"Great, so I know nothing more than I did yesterday." Jude sighed.

"Well why don't you tag along with me to baseball practice? Maybe you'll see someone you just didn't think of." Connor suggested.

"I can't tonight. Everyone's coming home for dinner and moms would kill me if I tried to skip."

"Alright. Well maybe tomorrow you'll get a better clue." Connor reassured, giving Jude a pat on the back as he walked away.

"He just said it had to be someone I knew. I don't think he even considered that it could be me." Connor said later, conversing with Taylor in the hallway in between classes.

"Great! So everything is going exactly to plan." Taylor replied, rubbing her hands together.

"He's kind of getting frustrated. It's cute." Connor sighed.

"See it's stuff like that that makes me wonder why you never asked him out before." Taylor commented, taking note of the almost lovesick expression on Connor's face.

"It's because I'm an idiot Taylor." Connor shot back.

"Now see, that's what I've been waiting for you to say since you asked me to help you with this." Taylor answered, smiling. "So what are you doing tomorrow?"

"I was thinking I would leave him a piece of his favorite chocolate. But only you, I, and his moms know what it is so I'm going to need you to pretend that someone asked you about it." Connor said, outlining his plan.

"Okay, but he's going to ask me who it was I told." Taylor said, pointing out a pretty major flaw in his plan.

"Wait, I've got a good idea for this. When he asks, tell him it's someone about my height and my hair color. We need to start him thinking that maybe it is me. Or at least get him to consider it." Connor suggested quickly.

"You realize you probably could just tell him? I don't think he's going to say no."

"I just think that after waiting so long to ask, I feel like I need to do something grand to make up for the fact that I was so stupid not to notice I was in love with him." Connor said, shaking his head.

"Look at all this progress you've made today." Taylor teased.

"I know, now shut up. Jude's coming this way." Connor mumbled, the lovesick look returning to his face.

The next day, Wednesday, Connor was already waiting for Jude at his locker.

"I swear that you care more about this secret admirer than I do." Jude teased.

"Don't lie to me Jude. You really wanna know who this guy is too." Connor challenged. Jude just laughed.

"Yeah you're probably right there." Jude answered, turning his attention to his locker. Inside, there was no note, a small piece of chocolate in it's place.

"Wait so this means that whoever it is knows my locker combination!" Jude exclaimed, reasoning that no one could fit a piece of chocolate through the locker vent like a note. No sooner had he finished speak than Connor burst into laughter, surprising Jude.

"And how many times have you just ripped your locker open without the combination?" Connor finally questioned when he stopped laughing. Jude frowned. Connor was right, they wouldn't have needed his com to get in.

"Shit." he muttered under his breath.

"Well this still has to be a clue somehow." Connor responded.

"I mean, it's my favorite kind of chocolate, but only you, Taylor and moms know that."

"Maybe he asked Taylor?" Connor suggested.

"Ask me what?" Taylor said, coming up behind them.

"Did someone ask you what Jude's favorite kind of chocolate is?" Connor asked.

"Yeah."

"Who was it?" Jude said quickly.

"I didn't catch his name but he was about Connor's height with sandy brown hair." Taylor replied. Just then the bell rang, and they scattered, heading off to their respective classes. Jude, however, couldn't get the whole "secret admirer" thing out of his head. Connor's height, sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and a baseball player. Those were the clues Jude had and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense for Connor to be the secret admirer, only adding to the confusion. Sure Connor was gay, but he had never made a move on him. Jude assumed that this was because Connor wasn't interested in him, but maybe he had missed something. There was no doubt in Jude's mind that he had fallen for Connor. It happened a long time ago, shortly after they met, and Jude never made an attempt to fight it. So the two of them had just lived in this "closer than 'just friends' ever would be" world. With all the evidence pointing to Connor, Jude started to wonder if the signs were there and he just didn't see them. He spent most of the rest of the day reliving every moment of their friendship so far, looking for clues as to whether Connor actually might like him.

Thursday, Taylor and Connor were absent from school. Jude not-so-subtly chewed his friends out (over text) for not showing up and leaving him alone at school all day. They both apologized, but were surprisingly cryptic as to why they weren't there, both dodging the question or giving vague answers. There was another note in his locker. Jude had hoped that this note would tell him who "S.A." was since tomorrow was Valentine's Day, but instead all it said was:

All will be revealed tomorrow morning.

S.A.

The contents of the note, coupled with Taylor and Connor's odd behavior made Jude suspect that they were both in on this whole plot. Jude had decided that S.A. couldn't be Connor just because, well it couldn't be. That was the only reason that he justify, stupid as it was. He sighed. Tomorrow it would all be over, thank God.

"Okay, everyone should be in class now, I'm going to go talk to her." Connor said to Taylor, opening the door and stepping into Lena's office.

"Connor, nice to see you. What can I do for you?" Lena said coolly.

"It's kind of about tomorrow." Connor answered.

"Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah. See I've been doing this secret admirer thing for Jude all week for Valentine's Day and I kinda wanted to make a whole day of it so I just wanted to ask if it was okay for Jude to skip school." Connor asked.

"To go on a date?" Lena replied, puzzled.

"Yeah." Connor nodded.

"I suppose. Jude doesn't normally miss school so I guess he would be fine with missing one day. May I ask why you've waited until now to ask him out?"

"Let's just say a friend made me realize that I've been in love with him all this time."

"About damn time." Lena muttered. Connor groaned.

"Not you too, I've getting enough of that from Taylor."

"It's been obvious to everyone but the two of you that you're both in love, dear." Lena stated.

"I'll be over at 7:00 tomorrow morning to pick Jude up." Connor called as he walked out.

"So how'd it go?" Taylor asked as they walked out of the school to finish up planning the date.

"Lena said all the same things you did. How did we both manage to be so blind?"

"That, I feel, is a mystery that will never be solved." Taylor answered. "So tell me, what are the plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm going over to the Adams-Foster house at 7:00, waiting for Jude as he comes downstairs for breakfast. After that, we're going to have a Star Wars movie marathon, followed by a picnic, then an afternoon at the skate park, finishing off with dinner and a movie at the theater." Connor said, detailing his plans.

"So that's your grand idea for a day date?" Taylor asked.

"Trust me, I know Jude, this is exactly what he would want."

"Well you know him better than most so I'm going to trust you."

"Yep, trust me it'll be perfect."

The next morning, Jude stumbled bleary-eyed into the kitchen, making his breakfast, oblivious to the boy sitting at the table. At least, until he tried to sit down, on top of Connor who was sitting in his spot.

"Connor! What are you doing here?" he spluttered, leaping up and spilling his cereal onto the floor.

"You remember the last note?" Connor asked, trying to stifle his giggles.

"Y—yeah." Jude answered nervously.

"Well, tada!" Connor said, standing up and wrapping his arms around Jude.

"So it was you!" Jude exclaimed.

"Yep." Connor replied smiling.

"God, if I didn't love you so much you'd be dead right now I swear, Connor. This week has been hell!" Jude said, giving Connor a gentle shove.

"I knew it." Connor muttered.

"Knew what?"

"That you loved me too. Tell me, Jude, how did we both not realize we were in love?" Connor inquired.

"I realized Connor, I was just waiting for you to make the first move."

"Oh. So once again, I've reached the conclusion that I'm a fucking idiot."

"Maybe. But you're my fucking idiot so get over here so I can kiss you." Jude said, grabbing Connor's arm and pulling him in.

Somewhere along the line, Connor's grand plan for their Valentine's Day date went off the rails. In fact, it happened almost immediately, with Jude falling asleep cuddled up against Connor twenty minutes into The Phantom Menace. But Connor didn't mind. He ended up not watching much of the movie himself, instead watching Jude sleep, thinking about how lucky he was that he realized his feelings for Jude before someone else snatched him away.

"What are you lookin' at?" Jude asked sleepily.

"You." Connor said simply.

"Since when did I become so interesting to look at?"

"Since forever."

"I love you Connor, but you're a dork." Jude said, beginning to giggle.

"I love you too Jude."


End file.
